NY: IT’S TIME TO CUT PACKAGING WASTE
by Guy Jacob
NY: IT’S TIME TO CUT PACKAGING WASTE
Pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act
(S1464 - Harckham / A1749 - Glick)
WHY WE NEED TO PASS THIS LAW NOW:
Waste crisis. New York produces 6.8 million tons of packaging waste each year, accounting for a whopping 40% of the total waste stream.
Pollution crisis. Most of this waste is buried in landfills or burned in incinerators; the rest ends up polluting our streets, parks, streams, lakes, beaches, and ocean.
Health crisis. Plastic packaging includes as many as 16,000 chemicals, thousands of which are harmful to human health. Landfills and incinerators harm the health of residents living in environmental justice communities near the facilities.
Climate crisis. This law is a key to reaching the climate action goals in the state’s landmark Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act.
THE PACKAGING REDUCTION & RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE ACT WILL:
Save tax dollars by shifting the cost of dealing with packaging waste from taxpayers to the companies responsible for creating it in the first place.
Protect our health by banning 17 of the most harmful chemicals currently used in packaging, including all PFAS chemicals, lead, mercury, cadmium, vinyl chloride, formaldehyde, toluene, benzene, bisphenols, phthalates, and more.
Reduce plastic packaging by 30% over the next 12 years and require 75% of the remaining packaging to be reused or recycled by 2052.
Protect environmental justice communities throughout the state by significantly reducing the amount of waste going to incinerators, landfills, and transfer stations.
Slow climate change by reducing GHG emissions from creating, transporting, and managing packaging’s end of life.
Support municipal recycling efforts with funding from new fees on packaging.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:
Urge your State Legislators to co-sponsor and vote “YES” on this critical bill.
Visit https://bit.ly/prria-2025 or scan the QR code to email them both now.
Learn more at: https://www.beyondplastics.org/nys-packaging-reduction
Beyond Plastics: working to end plastic pollution everywhere
BeyondPlastics.org | March 2025